United States v. Douglas Allen Schmidt

Douglas Allen Schmidt was convicted by jury verdict of mailing a letter addressed to President Ford which contained a threat to take the life of the President of the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 871 . At trial, Schmidt raised the defense of insanity. Defendant’s motion for acquittal and for a new trial were denied. For the reasons which follow, we affirm.

The only real issue at trial was Schmidt’s sanity. After mailing the threatening letter, Schmidt went to the FBI office in Tucson, Arizona to inform the FBI that he had sent such a letter and to turn himself in. He was then taken to the Secret Service Office, where he restated his story and explained that he had mailed the letter because “he wanted to get off the street” by being sent to federal prison. He told the Secret Service agent who interviewed him that he did not intend to kill the President, but that he knew that he had to be locked up because he had broken the law. When asked what he would do if he were not put in prison, Schmidt indicated that he would find some way to get locked up.

On appeal, Schmidt makes two contentions of error: first, that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a new trial…